May 25, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Rafael Dolis (48) pitches during the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Reds defeated the Cubs 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

To take Camp’s place in the bullpen, Rafael Dolis was called up for the third time this season. While Dolis was racking up the frequent flier miles, the front office also plucked Eduardo Sanchez off of waivers and optioned him to Triple A. The right handed reliever comes from the rival Cardinals and has respectable WHIP and strikeout to walks numbers despite a 4.26 ERA in a small sample size that is seven appearances and 6 1/3 innings pitch so far this season.

Alex Burnett was a Memorial Day waiver wire pick up from the Orioles and was a timely addition as Kyuji Fujikawa hit the DL yet again. The Japanese veteran had felt a pop in his previous appearance in Cincinnati and news came out on Wednesday, May 29th that the reliever will be requiring Tommy John surgery. The diagnosis means that Fujikawa will be shut down for at least the rest of the 2013 season after signing a two year deal this past off season.

Burnett’s best season came in 2012 with the Twins, where he appeared in 67 games with a 4-4 record and a 3.52 ERA strictly as a reliever. With the injuries and inconsistencies plaguing the 2013 Cubs pen, Burnett at the least will have an opportunity to seize a job if he can prove to be productive. The same opportunity exists for in house prospect Dolis, but the Cubs will really hope to see Carlos Marmol regain his second half 2012 form. Not only to stabilize the bullpen in its current state, but the build up that elusive trade value come late June and July.

May 21, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Shawn Camp (54) reacts after surrendering a grand slam home run to Pittsburgh Pirates pinch hitter Travis Snider (not pictured) during the sixth inning at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Bowden was the return from Boston in the Marlon Byrd trade back in mid April 2012. The Winfield, Illinois native must have enjoyed the return home, as the righty ended up appearing in a career high 32 games (two with the Red Sox) that spanned 36 2/3 innings of work with the Cubs. The reliever ended the season with a 1.81 strikeouts to walks ratio with a 1.140 WHIP and an impressive 2.95 ERA on the North Side. That set the stage for Bowden to have a bullpen job to lose in Spring Training 2013. The Waubonsie Valley High School product made the Opening Day roster and has been one of the lesser concerns of this year’s inconsistent Cubs pen. While his strikeout totals are down to 3.8 per nine innings (compared to 7.1 as a Cub last year), he still had a reasonable 3.78 ERA to go with a 1-2 record.

Even if those numbers are not All Star material, they were still more respectable than those of Camp’s even before the grand slam mentioned earlier. In an almost identical number of innings worked, Camp currently owns a ballooning 7.56 ERA with a whopping four home runs allowed. In Bowden’s 16 innings of work, he had yet to give up a long ball. The only thing going for Camp was a strikeouts per nine innings ratio that is in line with the ratio he had in a successful 2012 season. But even that positive is countered with a walks per nine innings ratio that has jumped almost one whole walk compared to last year. Statistical comparisons aside, Bowden also fit into the long term big picture the Cubs front office keeps pointing to. As well as Camp served the team in 2012, he does not figure to be a part of the team plans for contending in 2015.

As a result, Cubs fans were confused when the team designated for assignment Bowden instead of Camp. The knee jerk reaction was to second guess the front office, as Bowden was clearly the better pitcher than Camp so far this season. Unfortunately for the team and fans, there is a stipulation in the current collective bargaining agreement that prevented the Cubs from just cutting ties with Camp. Players that had been signed as post 2012 Article XX-B Major League free agents are not allowed to be traded or waived prior to June 15th unless they have consent from the player. Camp falls under this category and thus could not be designated for assignment.

But that does not take Camp off the hook for a heated rant whose flames have not died down much over the past few days. AFTER witnessing a useful part like Bowden be designated and AFTER essentially costing his team the game and even the three game series, Camp decided to come clean on a toe injury that he had been trying to fight through. The sprain had gotten serve enough where it was affecting Camp’s ability to push off of the mound was affected, in turn affecting his pitch velocity. The veteran reliever had not told anyone of the issue and the Cubs staff had failed to see the dip in velocity as a red flag. To make matters worse, Camp apparently has dealt with the problem in the past, as recently as 2010 AND 2011 with the Blue Jays.

While Bowden still remains in DFA status as of this morning, this is an instance where Camp’s decision impacts the Cubs on many levels. It is respectable when athletes these days try to tough out an injury and not use it as an excuse for poor performance, considering many high salaried super stars would sit out just from sneezing too hard. But the veteran right hander’s decision in this case can only be considered pure stupidity. And that is putting it nicely. Even manager Dale Sveum admitted the obvious move would have been to keep Bowden and place Camp on the DL had the team been alerted to the injury sooner. Now the Cubs have Camp on the DL while potentially losing Bowden on waivers, when the bullpen has already been one of the weak links of the 2013 squad.

Camp may return to the Cubs this season once he is healthy, but his time on the North Side should be numbered. The Cubs certainly will need to look in another direction for 2014 if not sooner.

The Good

Matt Garza is back! And what a grand entrance he made. The former Cubs ace flirted with a no hit bid and showed plenty off life on his fastball and slider. He even chipped in at the plate with a two run double, proving he is ready to fit in with this starting rotation that can both pitch and hit. The walks Garza issued are a bit deceiving, as they came on 3-2 pitcher’s pitch attempts as opposed to wild four pitch Carlos Marmol like free passes.

May 23, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen (22) steals second base as Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro (middle) takes the throw during the seventh inning at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Current ace Jeff Samardzija continued his dominance against the Pirates, tossing a one run gem in game two of the series. Unfortunately for The Shark, his offense could not support him even with one measly run. The Cubs starter thus was hung with another unfair loss to his name.

The Bad

The aforementioned Cubs offense and the ongoing productivity issues regarding runners in scoring position. Take out the Garza double in game one and the Cubs went 2 for 8 with RISP. The visitors in blue went 0 for 6 in the Samardzija start on their way to being shut out by the Pirates pitchers. Throw in 2 for 6 in the series finale and you are looking at 5 for 21 combined in the series.

Part of the lack of offense is also attributed to lack of production from the middle of the Cubs order. In this series Anthony Rizzo went 0 for 13. In game two alone, the two through five hitters went 0 for 15 with seven strikeouts. Even Nate Schierholtz, who had been one of the few bright spots offensively to start the season, went 0 for 4 in his lone start in Pittsburgh.

The Ugly

It is painful to even rehash, but Shawn Camp, with a little help from his bullpen mates, blew the game one 3-0 lead and created a 3-5 deficit when he served up a grand slam in the sixth. The veteran reliever has struggled to repeat his serviceable 2012 season numbers, but this latest let down did more than lose the game. With Garza coming in guns blazing and putting the Cubs up, the momentum was in place not only for a series opening win, but also to set the tone for the series against the next team above them in the standings. Instead Camp’s outing not only negated that positive mojo, it reversed the momentum that has sparked the Cubs current slide.

Things will not get any easier in Cincinnati against the Wild Card leading Reds. The Cubs are quickly snowballing into a seller’s position come June in the trade market after some grand talk by the front office of being competitive in 2013.